Gaining weight while playing a sport

[Crescendo]

Going to give you some general info before I start:
Age - 17
Weight - 185-190
Height - 5'3"

So since its been mid to late August, Football season has been rolling around again. I've been quite discouraged when I found out that I gained a reasonable amount of weight during the season. I play as a linemen and as we all know, linemen are supposed to be big (as in fat, muscly, or bulky ). We do a tonnnnn of running all the time and plenty of other stuff which would leave you literally gasping for air. With that being said, I have gained quite a lot of weight since the start of the season.

People I know that sees more over a period of time have said that I look as if I had gained an incredible amount of weight. My teacher (who I saw during Senior orientation) have told me this, as well as my mother, grandmother, and uncle. My brother thinks I look quite slimmer than usual but it might be because he doesn't see me as often because he dorms at college. I really hate hearing this because it is such a downer knowing that I workout so hard but all that results is nothing.

I eat pretty healthy (most of the time). My daily meals would usually consist of cereal for breakfast, protein bar for lunch, and whatever my mom would make for me for dinner (usually rice and stirfry whatever). I'm two weeks into the season with pads and this is week one of my healthy eating. Week two was far more unhealthier in terms of my eating habits. Since we didn't have enough funding for camp this year, my coach thought it would've been nice to have camp at home. At camp, we have been generously catered lunch because of a players parents. The schedule went as this;

Monday - Stuffed Pasta Shells
Tuesday - Tuna Salad, Chicken salad, Pasta salad
Wednesday - break day.
Thursday - Spaghetti egg noodles
Friday - Roasted chicken with baked potato wedges
Sat - BBQ hotdog and burgers

as you can see, the above is not healthy one smidge bit besides what I had to eat on Tuesday. I'm a heavy eater, but lately, I couldn't eat much because I wasn't really that hungry (my friend says that if your metabolism is actively going then you won't be as hungry). Since there were no other alternatives (and knowing that I HAD to eat something for lunch before the next practice), I pretty much ate what I could until I got full.

Our practices were pretty rough. We had two practice sessions a day for a whole week and it was full of cardio running and sprints. If we mess up during practice we are forced to do something my coach likes to call the hill. The hill is pretty much a steep diagnol incline where the players have to sprint up the hill numerous amounts of times.

When camp was over, I gained an unbelievable amount of weight. I was 183 before camp but turned to 190 after! I really don't understand. Even though I didn't eat so great the second week, I would have assumed that all my heavy cardio workouts should have payed off. I do lift weights but I doubt that my workouts could have made me look as if I had gained weight.

That pretty much sums up my dilemma. Can someone tell me why I gained so much weight in this whole entire week? It's quite discouraging when people you know think you are fatter than before and outright tell you.

[abrannan]

Muscle is more dense than fat, so it's entirely possible, even likely given the two-a-days and hill sprints, that you've lost fat, but gained more muscle. This is a good thing. every additional pound of muscle will burn an extra 50 calories per day doing nothing. The posted diets aren't bad at all considering the heavy amount of working out that's being done during the week, a good mix of ready carbs for energy, with protein to back it up over a longer period of time.

You say people have remarked that it looks like you've gained weight. I don't suppose you've measured yourself (inches at waistline, chest, thigh, bicep and the like), or done a body fat measurement (pinch test, most likely). Those could conclusively tell you if it's fat ro muscle you've gained, though I'd put good money on muscle.

[SSC]

Have you been lifting weights in the off-season? If not, you need to! If you're gaining that much weight as a lineman, if you lifted for only about an hour a day, three-four times a week you'd have the potential to become a very muscular dude, especially because you're fairly short.

To actually answer your question, I would assume it's because you're probably carb intolerant, and at your age you can really start to tell how your body is reacting to micronutrients. Again, I'd guess you're lifting weights in the off-season at least, and you probably gained a good amount of muscle as well.

If you want to try to maintain your muscle makeup as well as you can and shed some fat, I'd try balancing out your nutrient consumption. For instance, (and this is all guesswork for your schedule)

7 a.m. (breakfast) - Four large/XL eggs and some fruit with a protein shake
11 a.m. (lunch) - Hamburger/Pizza with meat/Bratwurst/Spaghetti (whatever the main dish is) with a chicken salad and skim milk
3 p.m. (pre-practice) - Coke Zero and a protein shake
5:30 p.m. (IMMEDIATELY post-practice) - Extra protein protein shake with a package of pop-tarts, a few bowls of cereal (Lucky Charms, Count Chocula ) or some sort of simple, non-complex carb
8:00 p.m. ish - Some beef jerky / lean chicken with a few wheat thins or whole grain carbs (<10g)
Pre-bed - One casein protein shake

Sounds demanding, but if you can stick to a dietary plan like that, you'd be surprised not only by the amount of muscle you'll probably gain (IF YOU LIFT!!!) and the amount of fat you'll likely shed, especially if you're running a lot every day.

This is a footnote, because diet is #1, but if you are working out, make sure to limit your bench pressing and curls and focus on money lifts like squats, deadlifts, power cleans, jerks, etc. They may suck, but they're generate unbelievable power and explosiveness in your step. (I could always give you a guide if you're interested.)

Hope any of this helps.